He was no longer a knight-errant,' seeking for adventure wherever brute courage promised to give him renown; he was no longer an idle hermit, shrinking from his work in the great harvest-fields of life; but he was a man, doing valiantly, among his fellow-men, truly noble deeds-not deeds of blood, but deeds of moral daring, in an age when the real uses of life were despised by the titled few.

8. There was the bold Knight, the pious Hermit, and the Man; but the MAN was best and greatest of all.

T. S. ARTHUR.

115. No LIFE PLEASING TO GOD, THAT IS NOT USEFUL TO MAN.

2

IT pleased our mighty sovereign, Abbas Carascan, from whom

the kings of the earth derive honor and dominion, to set Mirza, his servant, over the province of Tauris. In the hand of Mirza, the balance of distribution was suspended with impartiality; and under his administration the weak were protected, the learned received honor, and the diligent became rich: Mirza, therefore, was beheld by every eye with complacency,3 and every tongue pronounced blessings upon his head.

2. But it was observed that he derived no joy from the benefits which he diffused; he became pensive and melancholy; he spent his leisure in solitude; in his palace he sat motionless upon a sofa; and when he went out, his walk was slow, and his eyes were fixed upon the ground: he applied to the business of state with reluctance; and resolved to relinquish the toil of government, of which he could no longer enjoy the reward. He, therefore, obtained permission to approach the throne of our sovereign; and being asked what was his request, he made this reply:

3. "May the Lord of the world forgive the slave whom he has honored, if Mirza presume again to lay the bounty of Abbag at his feet. Thou hast given me the dominion of a country,

1

Knight-errant (nit-ẻr' rant), a wandering night.-2 Sovereign (sův er in), a supreme or chief ruler.- Com plà' cen cy, pleasure; satisfar tion.

fruitful as the gardens of Damascus; and a city glōrious above all others, except that only which reflects the splendor of thy presence. But the longest life is a period scarcely sufficient to prepare for death. All other business is vain and trivial, as the toil of emmets' in the path of the traveler, under whose foot they perish forever and all enjoyment is unsubstantial and evanescent' as the colors of the bow that appears in the interval of a storm. Suffer me, therefore, to prepare for the approach of eternity; let me give up my soul to meditation; let solitude and silence acquaint me with the mysteries of devotion; let me forget the world, and by the world be forgotten, till the moment arrives in which the vail of eternity shall fall, and I shall be found at the bar of the Almighty." Mirza then bowed himself to the earth, and stood silent.

4. By the command of Abbas it is recorded, that at these words he trembled upon the throne, at the footstool of which the world pays homage; he looked round upon his nobles; but every countenance was pale, and every eye was upon the earth. No man opened his mouth; and the king first broke silence, after it had continued near an hour.

5. "Mirza, terror and doubt are come upon me. I am alarmed as a man who suddenly perceives that he is near the brink of a precipice, and is urged forward by an irresistible3 fōrce: but yet I know not whether my danger is a reality or a dream. I am, as thou art, a reptile of the earth; my life is a moment, and eternity, in which days, and years, and ages, are nothing, eternity is before me, for which I also should prepare; but by whom then must the faithful be governed? By those only who have no fear of judgment? by those only whose life is brutal, because like brutes they do not consider that they shall die? Or who, indeed, are the faithful? Are the busy multitudes that crowd the city, in a state of perdition? and is the cell of the Dervis alone the gate of paradise! To all, the life of a Dervis is not possible; to all, therefore, it can not be a duty. Depart

4

Em' mets, ants.-2 Ev a nes' cent, short-lived; passing quickly away. - Irresistible (ir re zist' i bl), that can not be resisted with success.⚫ Der' vis, a priest or monk among the Persians and Turks who leads an austere life.

to the house which has in this city been prepared for thy residence: I will meditate the reason of thy request; and may He who illuminates the mind of the humble, enable me to determine with wisdom."

6. Mirza departed; and on the third day, having received no command, he again requested an audience,' and it was granted. When he entered the royal presence, his countenance appeared more cheerful; he drew a letter from his bosom, and having kissed it, he presented it with his right hand. "My lord!" said he, “I have learned by this letter, which I received from Cosrou the Iman,2 who stands now before thee, in what manne life may be best improved. I am enabled to look back with pleasure, and forward with hope; and I shall now rejoice still to be the shadow of thy power at Tauris, and to keep those honors which I so lately wished to resign."

7. The king, who had listened to Mirza with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, immediately gave the letter to Cosrou, and commanded that it should be read. The eyes of the court were at once turned upon the hoary sage, whose countenance was suffused with an honest blush; and it was not without some hesitation that he read these words.

116. No LIFE PLEASING TO GOD, THAT IS NOT USEFUL TO MAN-CONCLUDED.

10 Mirza, whom the wisdom of Abbas our mighty lord has honored with dominion, be perpetual health! When I heard thy purpose to withdraw the blessings of thy government from the thousands of Tauris, my heart was wounded with the ǎrrow of affliction, and my eyes became dim with sorrow. But who shall speak before the king when he is troubled; and who shall boast of knowledge, when he is distressed by doubt? To thee will I relate the events of my youth, which thou hast renewed before me; and those truths which they taught me, may the Prophet' multiply to thee!

1 Aud'i ence, hearing.-. I' man, a Mohammedan priest or prince.— 'Prophet, here means Mohammed, whom his followers believe to have been a prophet.

2. "Under the instruction of the physician Aluzar, I obtained an early knowledge of his art. To those who were smitten with disease, I could administer plants, which the sun has impreg nated' with the spirit of health. But the scenes of pain, languor, and mortality, which were perpetually rising before me, made me often tremble for myself. I saw the grave open at my feet: I determined, therefore, to contem'plate only the regions beyond it, and to despise every acquisition which I could not keep.

3. "I conceived an opinion, that as there was no merit but in voluntary poverty and silent meditation, those who desired money were not proper objects of bounty; and that by all who were proper objects of bounty, money was despised. I, therefore, buried mine in the earth; and renouncing society, I wandered into a wild and sequestered' part of the country. My dwelling was a cave by the side of a hill. I drank the running water from the spring, and ate such fruit and herbs as I could find. To increase the austerity of my life, I frequently watched all night, sitting at the entrance of the cave with my face to the east, resigning myself to the secret influences of the Prophet.

4. "One morning after my nocturnal vigil,3 just as I perceived the horizon glow at the approach of the sun, the power of sleep became irresistible, and I sunk under it. I imagined myself still sitting at the entrance of my cell; that the dawn increased; and that as I looked earnestly for the first beam of day, a dark spot appeared to intercept it. I perceived that it was in motion; it increased in size as it drew near, and at length I discovered it to be an eagle. I still kept my eye fixed steadfastly upon it, and saw it alight at a small distance, where I now descried a fox whose two fore-legs appeared to be broken. Before this fox the eagle laid part of a kid, which she had brought in her talons, and then disappeared.

5. "When I awaked, I laid my forehead upon the ground, and blessed the Prophet for the instruction of the morning. I reviewed my dream, and said thus to myself: Cosrou, thou hast done well to renounce the tumult, the business, and vanities of

'Im prèg' nåt ed, infused; filled.- Sequestered (se kwes' terd), retired; separated; apart from others.—3 Vigil (vij il), watch. In ter cept', come between; hide from view.

life; but thou hast as yet only done it in part; thou art still every day busied in the search of food; thy mind is not whōlly at rest; neither is thy trust in Providence complete. What art thou taught by this vision? If thou hast seen an eagle commissioned by Heaven to feed a fox that is lame, shall not the hand of Heaven also supply thee with food, when that which prevents thee from procuring it for thyself, is not necessity, but devotion?

6. "I was now so confident of a miraculous' supply, that I neglected to walk out for my repast, which, after the first day, I expected with an impatience that left me little power of attending to any other object. This impatience, however, I labored to suppress, and persisted in my resolution; but my eyes at length began to fail me, and my knees smote each other; I threw myself backward, and hoped my weakness would soon increase to insensibility. But I was suddenly roused by the voice of an invisible being, who pronounced these words:

7. "Cosrou, I am the angel, who, by the command of the Almighty, have registered the thoughts of thy heart, which I am now commissioned to reprove. While thou wast attempting to become wise above that which is revealed, thy folly has perverted the instruction which was vouchsafed thee. Art thou disabled as the fox? hast thou not rather the powers of the eagle? Arise, let the eagle be the object of thy emulation. To pain and sickness, be thou again the messenger of ease and health. Virtue is not rest, but action. If thou dost good to man as an evidence of thy love to God, thy virtue will be exalted from moral to divine; and that happiness which is the pledge of paradise, will be thy reward upon earth.'

2

8. "At these words, I was not less astonished than if a mountain had been overturned at my feet. I humbled myself in the dust; I returned to the city; I dug up my treasure; I was liberal, yet I became rich. My skill in restoring health to the body, gave me frequent opportunities of curing the diseases of the soul. I grew eminent beyond my merit; and it was the pleasure of the king that I should stand before him. Now,

1

1 Mi råc' u lous, supernatural; wonderful.-- Em u là' tion, effort to equal or surpass desire of superiority.